Watched "The Sixth Sense" on commercial TV last night.

Viewing (dis)pleasure:

9 1/2 minutes of film

7 minutes of ad (nauseum)

Rinse and Repeat

Recommendation:

45 seconds of film

30 seconds of ad (nauseum)

Rinse and Repeat
-- thumbwax, Nov 17 2002

Perhaps this? http://www.halfbake...cial_20TV_20Station
all - commercial tv station [snarfyguy, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

ReplayTV http://www.replaytv...ytv5000/default.asp
automatically skips commercials [krelnik, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Network Tries to Foil Ad Skipping (NY Times) http://www.nytimes....5062&partner=GOOGLE
New cable network building its entire program format around the idea that everyone is skipping the ads [krelnik, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

One word: CA BLE. I guess you already got that though. There's a couple of movie channels in the 90s which never show commercials. But if that was on Superstation, man, I feel your pain.
-- Admiral Hackbar, Nov 17 2002


I recommend not watching The Sixth Sense, but that's just me.

Maybe they could just flash words at the bottom of the screen the entire movie, subliminally convincing you to drink Coke and update your life insurance coverage.
-- AfroAssault, Nov 17 2002


I love my ReplayTV DVR. The Commercial Advance feature quite nicely solves this problem, just don't watch anything "live."
-- krelnik, Nov 17 2002


These other options/devices are known to exist - the idea proposes a seesaw battle between publicity for bite-size pieces and bite-size pieces of published film.
-- thumbwax, Nov 18 2002


Learn to love your commercials. They are after all the way of life we're defending against the no-art crowd from round Tora Bora way.
-- General Washington, Nov 18 2002


Yes, Jamie Kellner of Turner Broadcasting said that. The premise of the accusation is that you get TV for free because of advertising. This is ironic because all of the stations that Turner owns are distributed by cable/satellite. With this type of distribution, there is a per-subscriber fee that is bundled into your cable/satellite bill that goes straight back to Turner (usually a few pennies per subscriber per month per channel). So Kellner's channels are never free.
-- krelnik, Nov 18 2002


//maximum...in any one hour is 12 minutes//

Wow, we would love that here in the U.S. The big networks are up to about 16 minutes per hour now. This has gradually increased over the years, back in the 1960's about 9 minutes per hour was more common, which means that reruns of classic shows are usually horribly cut-up to fit the current standard.

And yet they look for more, so there are product placements within shows, end-credit sequences removed or edited so that a promo can be edged in, and on-screen "banner ads" at various spots during sports events. It is truly getting ridiculous.

And they wonder why we look for ways to avoid ads?
-- krelnik, Nov 18 2002


It's a psychological "arms race". The target markets are fragmented, consumers are much more canny and sophisticated than they were. Certain "highly desireable" buyer groups can be VERY hard to reach ....
-- 8th of 7, Nov 18 2002


//The big networks are up to about 16 minutes per hour now//
More than that when big flicks air. For example - using the 7:9.5 ratio shown in the Sixth Sense broadcast,
*Behold!*
25 1/2 minutes of Commercials aired for every 34 1/2 minutes of film.
-- thumbwax, Nov 18 2002


watch Memento with ads. that would really do your head in.
-- po, Nov 18 2002


Po, I did. Was kind of getting the Ins and Outs at the same time. Man I'm so glad that movie made no sense to your either.
-- Admiral Hackbar, Nov 18 2002


sp 'nauseam'
-- dbmag9, Jul 28 2006



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